January has been the most violent month against journalists and media activists since the beginning of the revolution. The freedom of Press committee at the SJA has been able to document the murder of 18 journalists and media activists during the month of January 2013, making the number of victims climb to 127 journalists.

Syria ranked as the 176th country out of 179 countries in the Press Freedom Index, in the Reporters Without Borders’ 2012 report. Its president Bashar Al Assad is also regarded as one of the world’s 38 “Predators of Press freedom”.